Raman Raghav 2.0 : Review

There are normal Bollywood movies. Then there are some serious and dark Bollywood movies. And then there is reality which is even more brutal and unsettling. Even beneath reality, there is Anurag Kashyap ; who not only portrays raw and unbelievable reality in its full gory glory but then forces things to take an even darker, grittier and sombre tone. It’s like taking an already inedible fruit and injecting it with poison but the director doesn’t just stops there. He will shove that fruit down snow white’s throat till she chokes to death.

So the movie starts almost neutrally. We see an opening title sequence with loud music and just as all kashyap films I know what to expect here. More so because I had a feeling it might similar to ‘Ugly’ in some sense. The truth is it is and it isn’t. In Ugly we had people who atleast seemed to care about the little girl but Raman Raghav is completely faithless. The movie is divided in chapters like Tarantino does it and tests what our reality is and how unsafe anyone is to how fucked up people can be.

The movie is devoid of any compassion. No character displays any kind of humanity towards anything in any scene. Not even for their own selves. People are just caught up in their own demons and the ones who are the victims of such abuse quietly tolerate it before they meet their end. Yes that’s the thing about this movie; not one single strand of plot ever goes onto anything even remotely positive and just unfolds itself until at the end where it reaches its peak (or nadir) of debauchery. There is almost no theme the movie does not touch- spousal abuse- physical and emotional, drug abuse, child abuse, rape; you name it. And believe me these are not even the main focus of the movie just background props to add to the disgust we’re already forced to feel for almost every character.

An abusive and abrasive and drug addict police officer, very much prone to violence and often killing (even) with almost no sense of duty or moral bounds and also no regard for anyone who cares about him; and a girl who for some reason falls for such a guy and for the same mysterious reason always lets him use her, treat her like trash without ever saying a word. Such are the people on the ‘good side’ (this phrase is so farfetched). In between such characters, a villain needs to be worse than bad. He needs to be evil incarnate. Something so twisted, something so wretched, so anti that it puts Patrick Bateman to shame and disturbingly so but Nawazuddin’s Raman does exactly that. He shows us a sickening, almost nauseating evil creature which deserves no sympathy in any world, right on top with the likes of Ramsay Bolton and Griffith (Berserk).

The casting of the movie is great. Nawazuddin’s psychopath is the star of the whole setup. He perfectly shocks you with everything he does by descending lower and lower to the point where he becomes a force of nature, the embodiment of sin, a dark shapeless slimy creature. Other’s do a pretty well job as well. Vicky Kaushal’s frustrated and quite simply put- a dickhead of a police officer is quite irksome and as fate would have it, almost equally guilty if not twisted as the antagonist. The movie also introduces the gorgeous, sensuous, dazzling (sorry, can’t help it) Sobhita Dhulipala as Smrutika Naidu (Thatswhy they call her simmi in the movie). She is the victim. She is treated badly. Not once she is shown any care at all. But still somehow the viewers can’t feel any sympathy for her as she herself is utterly remorseless and ignorant. The music is top notch. Ram Sampath does a fantastic job creating a chaotic, sinister and chilling soundtrack mixing aptly with all the film’s elements. Where the film lacks is (I don’t believe I’m saying this) in Anurag Kashyap’s direction. There are too many cuts and scenes where the execution could’ve been better and overall the movie lacks the dark humour Kashyap is famous for. And the second half also gets a bit repetitive as Raman makes fool of people again and again; Mr police officer proves to be a jerk again and again. All those things which mesmerised us during the first few minutes of the movie seem like a structure which the rest of the movie blindly follows.

"Bhagwan ka CCTV hoon main"

So to sum it up, not Kashyap’s best work but certainly his grittiest till date (and that’s really saying something for a guy who made ‘Ugly’). This is what happens when a person like Kashyap meets with a serial killer. You get a psycho thriller devoid of all hope, humanity and emotion. You come out of theatre cursing humanity’s existence and fearing for your own safety. He shows us how danger lurks everywhere and anyone can be anything. The most simple and ordinary poor man can be such a vile monster. But there were times when it felt like the movie was too afraid of itself. It showed us what true diabolism is but seems scared of what the audience might see if it showed more blood and gore. Maybe then it’d have turned a horror flick as against the intention of the makers. But nonetheless, this is solid piece of cinema, not for the faint of heart or believers of humanity. This is not just a story about a person somewhat inspired by a serial killer, it’s a story of a whole world under the influence of a vicious beast who as Raman puts it “galti se nahi mara maine kabhi kisi ko”. The story of a misguided yet motivated man who knows no bounds and stops at nothing when it comes to killing. He’s got no morals, no rules, no principles to live by and such is the whole movie, no room for any optimism at all.

VERDICT
A good movie that can only be described in bad words. I was about to give three stars but a half extra for the fact that the antagonist not only displayed evil but successfully spread it as well. So here at our expanse is a movie too gritty, too hopeless, and slightly humourless for anyone’s tastes but still excels at showing an outright disgusting serial killer who spares no one; be it children, relatives or whatever crossed his path. The audience is not spared either. We have to sit through it and witness our own souls being devoured by the cynicism aroused from such unsympathetic and despicable characters committing heinous crimes with no guilt at all. A nice watch for Kashyap fans and all those who have faith that they’re not going to heaven anyway. The movie is a testament to a reality we all choose to ignore and by the end I feel its better that way. Some things are better be ignored but not this movie, its a go. Not a happy bright ribbon wrapped 'go' flag but an anxious and scary 'go ahead' for the fans of intense cinema out there.

"The author wonders why is he always late to the show. And is also willing to see this movie again just for Sobhita Dhulipala"

"The things I do for love" - Jaime